Senior Systems Engineer Verified today
About Umbra
Umbra is an American space technology company delivering advanced systems from sensors to spacecraft. The Mission Solutions team builds purpose-built platforms for U.S. and allied defense and intelligence missions, from custom payloads to full-stack spacecraft and entire constellations.
The Role
You will serve as the senior technical lead for a complex space mission program, maintaining the program technical baseline and ensuring alignment across engineering teams, program leadership, partners, and customers. You will work closely with the Program Manager daily to manage technical execution, respond to customer needs, maintain scope, and develop solutions as requirements evolve.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and maintain the program technical baseline, ensuring requirements, interfaces, architecture, and technical decisions remain aligned
- Provide systems engineering leadership across the Space Element, Ground Element, Launch Element, Mission Operations, and Mission Design
- Maintain technical alignment among Umbra engineering teams, program management, external partners, and the customer
- Partner with the Program Manager to address customer requests, maintain scope, identify and manage technical risks, and develop offsets and alternative solutions
- Support mission design, analysis, and modeling and simulation using tools such as STK, FreeFlyer, or equivalent
- Apply knowledge of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and remote sensing mission concepts of operations to system design and mission execution
- Lead development, coordination, and delivery of systems engineering documentation and customer-facing technical presentations
- Serve as the Umbra technical lead at customer-facing reviews, acceptance events, and program milestones including CDRs, ICD activities, and VCRMs
- Support flight operations, ground-system sustainment, and flight-software maintenance throughout program execution
- Develop and support operations and maintenance training programs for on-site customer personnel
- Travel as required to support customer engagements, program reviews, integration activities, training, and acceptance milestones
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of systems engineering experience supporting complex aerospace, spacecraft, or remote sensing programs
- Demonstrated knowledge of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and remote sensing mission concepts of operations
- Experience with mission modeling and simulation tools such as STK, FreeFlyer, or similar
- Demonstrated ability to develop and lead systems engineering documentation, technical reviews, and customer presentations
- Experience with flight operations, ground systems, and flight-software maintenance or sustainment
- Ability to lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and drive technical issues to resolution
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to communicate effectively with customers and senior program leadership
- Willingness and ability to travel domestic and internationally as required
Desired Qualifications
- 12+ years of systems engineering experience supporting complex aerospace, spacecraft, or remote sensing programs
- Software development, scripting, data analysis, or other relevant coding experience
- Previous responsibility for successful delivery and customer acceptance of flight hardware, flight software, or operational ground systems
- Experience leading technical activities through major aerospace program lifecycle milestones such as CDR, integration, verification, validation, acceptance, and operational transition
- Experience supporting deployed or on-site customer operations and training
- Demonstrated experience balancing technical performance, program scope, schedule, risk, and customer priorities
Compensation and Benefits
Base salary range: $180,000 - $210,000 depending on experience.
- Flexible Time Off, Sick, Family and Medical Leave
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD, STD (employer funded)
- 401k with 3% non-elective company contribution
- Stock Options
- Free parking or transit reimbursement
- Free daily lunch in office
Location
On-site in Arlington, VA; Reston, VA; or Santa Barbara, CA.